No.25 Aggies host Islanders in College Station

Nov 26, 2011 - 4:38 PM College Station, TX (Sports Network) - The 25th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies welcome the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders to College Station this afternoon for non-conference action at Reed Arena.

Billy Kennedy's Aggies have won three of their first four games to start the year, with the lone loss coming to Mississippi State (69-60) in the 2k Sports Challenge in New York City last week. The team was able bounce back from that loss the next day, salvaging its trip to the Big Apple with a 58-57 win over St. John's.

Willis Wilson's tenure in Corpus Christi hasn't started as well as Kennedy's in College Station. The Islanders dropped their first two games of the season, but finally got Wilson his first win with the team on Tuesday with a 58-55 overtime win against Utah State.

This is just the third meeting in this series. The Islanders shocked the Aggies in 2003 in College State, one of the team's biggest upsets ever. The Aggies tied things up with an 86-65 victory last year.

The Islanders will be hard-pressed to keep up with the Aggies if this game becomes up-tempo. The team is netting just 51.7 ppg coming into this contest, while shooting under 40 percent from the floor (.382) and a horrific 6-of-40 from behind the arc (.150). Myron Dempsey and Chris Hawkins-Mast represent the team's top offensive threats, at 12.3 and 10.3 ppg, respectively. Dempsey is also the team's top rebounder, grabbing 9.0 caroms per contest. Neither team shot the ball particularly well, but Corpus Christi was able to earn the overtime win, by converting 8-of-12 from the free-throw line in the extra session. Dempsey led the way with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. Terence Jones added 14 points in the win.

The Aggies scored a season-low 58 points, but was able to earn a one-point win over St. John's at Madison Square Garden. Despite shooting just .382 from the floor in the first half, A&M was able to take a two-point lead into halftime. The Aggies upped that to 50 percent after the break and were able to earn the narrow victory. Ray Turner led the way with 16 points and seven rebounds. , but got limited offensive support. On the season, A&M is averaging 70.5 ppg, doing so on an impressive 51.1 percent shooting. Ray Turner leads the way with 14.5 ppg. He is followed by Elston Turner and David Loubeau with 12.0 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.